Caught Up: Eddie Wall

Eddie Wall comes to us from the far away land of Rome, Pennsylvania. He’s made his way, clawing tooth and nail upward through the ranks of professional snowboarding. From a nighttime janitor in South Lake Tahoe, to a digger at Mt. Hood, to a globetrotting super star—Eddie has done it all. But the best part is, the busiest, most positive, hardest working dude in snowboarding is just that—a regular dude. A regular dude who gets fanned out on by Playboy models, and has multi-year contracts with serious travel budgets.

It’s funny, on the airplane the other day I started writing down all the cities and countries I’ve been to … there are quite a few. Dubai, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Mexico, Canada, the North Pole, New Zealand, Hawaii, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands—shit I don’t know—there may be some more, I’m not sure.

What did you think of Dubai? That’s a pretty crazy place to go.

So crazy … it was 115 degrees out in the desert. We went surfing and the ocean was 102—102! That’s what most people set their hot tubs at! And the same day we went indoor snowboarding—so fun. You (Evan) got car sick out in the desert and puked—so funny! You were tweaked though! Sorry ’bout that.

Is there any room left for new stamps in your passport?

I think I have about one page left, then gotta get a new one. I was just hanging out with Peter Line and he’s on his third passport! Gnarly.

Do you ever just sit back, and trip out on what you do for a living?

For sure. Sometimes traveling eleven months a year and always being in pain from injuries and stuff, you get a little negative, but then I realize how fortunate I am to travel and do what I love. I really appreciate all of this and never try to take it for granted—truly blessed.

Is it weird going back home to PA, chilling, and remembering how things used to be?

Yeah, but I honestly only get back home once every few years ’cause my sisters and me live out west. So my parents will visit us here more often. But yeah, being home is a trip. I just look at my trampoline and think about how I used to bounce on it for hours with my board on, pretending I was filming and pretending I was at the X Games and stuff—so funny.

Traveling so much, and so fast; do you ever feel like you really get a flavor for the places you’re travel to?

That’s a really good point, because when we are filming we’re just in our hotels or out at a rail or sledding, and there isn’t too much time to really take in culture of where we are. And on tour, it’s just hotels, premiers, clubs—then onto the next city or country. But now it’s been a few years, and you’ll return to a lot of the same spots and see more and more each time, and meet more people. So I feel like I’ve been able to take in a lot while traveling. You definitely have to make the effort though.

Have you been hanging in LA a lot lately?

Oh yeah! Yeah, we’ve been hanging there a bit, and been meeting a lot of people who take us to some crazy places, and spend some crazy cash—it’s a whole nother culture—lifestyles of the rich and famous. But yeah, we’ve been around Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan … Jay Davis brought us to see Dave Chappel and Dane Cook at The Laugh Factory… damn, that was some serious name dropping!

Playmates … models … crazy times. It’s gnarly though, I can see how people get wrapped up in that shit and never leave, and think that it’s real life, and money and how cool you are, are the only important things—that sucks. Money is nice, but it shouldn’t rule our lives.

Learned any good songs on that guitar of yours yet?

Oh yeah, dude! I learned another one, I learned my favorite “Neutral Milk Hotel song, I’ll play it for you—so stoked ! Not any DDylan yet though … cant’ wait to play Dylan!

What’s your favorite TransWorld cover?

Mine, (laughter). Joking, but I am really stoked on that, it’s one of my all time accomplishments. Um, well there have been a lot of good ones … I really like Lauri Heiskari on that huge rail in Finland ’cause that’s nuts and the photo was sick. Peter Line’s covers—the wall ride frontside invert at Mammoth, and KJ’s (Kevin Jones’) back-lip cover for sure.

What are you going to do over your summer vacation?

LA of course, (laughter). No, mainly skating in So Cal, and surfing, then I’ll head up to Mt. Hood to ride and skate in July. Maybe a New Zealand trip in August … a Mexico surf trip maybe … maybe actually go to my house in Mammoth for once this year … (laughter).

Where do you go from here?

Well, up to Iikka and Lauri’s house and learn a new guitar song, and go watch a movie … maybe skate. “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die tomorrow. Right?